Bright Eyes
by Leonora T
Summary: Vincent Valentine's life is tragic, but everything would be all right if he could only see those bright eyes again...Oneshot YXV


**K, well I've finally worked up enough courage to write a Final Fantasy story. This is my first, so please be nice and constructive:)**

**Bright eyes**

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He'd seen many things in his long life. Many things that would shock and repulse even the hardest of souls. To make it worse, half of these things he'd seen, he'd himself committed. He committed them for a profession, and he committed them on behalf of love more than once.

He spent thirty years in a coffin, sheilding himself from the rest of the world, where only the sweet dreams of his lost love could reach him. But that's all they were, dreams. None the less he was content. But one day, he was awoken, and thrown out form the make believe world that he thrived in. He was forced to confront the nightmares that really did exsit, along with many other unpleasant things.

He could have gone back to sleep, he WANTED to go back to sleep. He wanted to see her face again, her long auburn hair, her beautiful brown eyes but for some reason he stayed among the living. He stayed among the nightmares. How he longed to close his eyes and dream of those beautiful bright eyes once again, but something held him back.

Time pasted, many things happened, but few things changed for the gunslinging man. Somehow the small ninja that he had know for several years had convinced him to leave "the old spookfest mansion" and come live at Tifa and Cloud's, where she was staying for a couple of weeks.  
Vincent stayed, he helped Tifa around the bar and occasionally joined Cloud on one of his routes. For the most part he kept to himself, like always. Tifa nor Cloud where bothered by this, both knew he wasn't the most social man in the world and simply let him be. But this wasn't so easy for the The Great Ninja Yuffie.  
She pestered him to no end, though after their trails with the Deepground Organization, the crimson eyed man had learned how to tolerate her better. Dispite the fact that she was twenty one, she still acted the same as the day he'd meant her. The day when he'd opened his eyes for the first time in 30 some years only to here _AH! VAMPIRE! CLOUD KILL IT!_

As the months passed, Vincent began to enjoy the company of the young women more than he'd ever thought possible. Yuffie would creep into his room at midnight, seeing as how she knew Vincent was a night owl and how she was just constantly wired with energy. She ramble on and on about things of no real importance. She'd tell him stories about her Wutai, materia and of course the short lived teenage crush she had on a certain blonde swords man. For the most part, Vincent listened, nodding every now and occasionally speaking. But for the most part he was content to just listen at the young ninja babble.

One night however, he couldn't help but ask her a question. "Yuffie, why are you afraid to go back to Wutai?" The question was delivered his normal nonchalant voice but his dark crimson eyes that where covered by ebony locks showed that he was rather concerned for his friend.

"I'm not 'fraid, Vinnie." The brunette jumped up off the bed and did her famous pose. "Great Ninja Yuffie, White Rose of Wutai, is afraid of nothing"

"Then why, Oh Great Ninja" Vincent seemed to reserve sarcasm just for her "Have you been living with Tifa and Cloud for five months?" Vincent knew very well that it simply wasn't in the little ninja's blood to stay in one spot for too long.

"Dunno." She replied, unwilling to tell Vincent the truth.

"Yuffie..." Vincent sighed, frustration in his voice as he stood up from the bed and towered over Yuffie. "You owe me an answer...a real answer."

"Why?" The ninja asked with a puzzled look across her face, but it quickly turned into a devilish smile. "Oh...yeah...forgot"

"Indeed" Vincent had made the grave mistake of leaving his cell phone on Tifa's bar one afternoon. And of course Yuffie couldn't help but play around with it. Long story short, when Reeve called his cell, the song, "Its raining Men" played loudly for all to hear.

"Geez..." Yuffie flopped down back on the bed, her small body bouncing a bit. Vincent simply propped against the wall, awaiting her answer.  
"You see...Godo." Her eyes alit with fire at the mere mention of her father's name. "Wants me to merry Staniv." She looked up to see if Vincent would say anything. When all she got was silence in return, she continued, "I mean, I knew it was coming, eventually. But still, I just didn't think it would be so soon." She frowned at the thought of herself at the alter with Staniv. Sure he was better than the arrogant Chevok, but not by much.

Vincent took in this information, computing it silently as his eyes stayed on the wooden floor. Yuffie was to get married? Not only that, but Yuffie was to lead a country soon. For a moment the though 'but she's just a child' flashed through his mind before he corrected himself. Though she may still act childish and immature, she was in fact a women now, a women with an obligation to her country. "Well, sometimes we must do things for the greater good." Vincent said plainly as if this situation wasn't anything at all. Deep inside though he couldn't help but feel a prick of some long forgotten emotion, one he wasn't able to study for long until Yuffie aksed him,

"Isn't that what Lucrecia did?" The mere mention of the long gone woman's name caused Vincent's head to snap in her direction. His crimson eyes locked with her stormy gray ones. Slightly nervous under such an intense gaze, Yuffie gulped before she continued, "I mean she let Hojo do all those experiments on her...for the greater good... of science"

Crimson eyes strayed away from hers and looked once again down at the floor. "Lucrecia did what she thought was right. She just didn't know...this is completely different"

The little ninja fell silent as she fiddled with her fingers and gnawed at her bottom lip. She knew she shouldn't have mentioned that woman's name. It always made Vincent suddenly act cold and distant again. Being Yuffie however, she wasn't able to suppress what she wanted to say for too long. She practically leaped off the bed, no doubt awaking Tifa and Cloud with the large thud she made as she landed. She walked over to the gunslinger who was still casually propped against the wall and only straighten as she approached. "Ya ever notice Vin-Vin, that what we think is right and what we feel is right usually completely contradict the other"

Vincent simply blinked at the ninja, slightly perplexed. He also made a mental note to tell Red not too teach her big words like 'contradict'. When he didn't respond, Yuffie contiuned, here brown eyes sparkling slightly from the light that shone in the window. "Like in your case." She poked him in the chest. "You think its only right you stay here and mourn over some broad who never really was yours." She paused for a moment, waiting for a reaction; none thing. "But you know, you feel that you should continue living, thats the reason why you didn't head back to that coffin, thats the reason why I was able to drag your ass out of that dumpy Mountain Town, and that Vincent Valentine is the truth, and you know it." She folded her arms across her chest and smiled smugly, as if what she had said was only the greatest thing ever. This smug smile only grew as she noticed a look flash across Vincent's face.

Why had he never thought of it? He wanted to live, he wanted to carry on. Thats the reason he didn't head back to the coffin right after Sephiroth's first defeat. His crimson eyes looked down at stormy gray ones that where full of self accomplishment. "Yuffie...I..." "Nauh." Yuffie quipped and placed a single finger over Vincent's lip. This action caused those feelings once again to stir within him, feelings that he hadn't felt for far too long.

"I'm not done, Vinnie Poo." She took her finger off of Vincent's lip. The gunslinger couldn't help but miss the warmth of the young ninja touching his skin. "Like in my case..." She spoke, oblivious to Vincent's inner feelings. "I think I wanna slap you for being such a stupid ass and not realizing this sooner." She then smiled her famous ninja grin, practically showing all her teeth. "But I feel like I wanna kiss you, just for finally coming to your senses." And with that Yuffie stood on the very tip of her toes and placed a tender kiss on Vincent's lips.

The kiss was short but sweet, and when she pulled away, Vincent said, "That was just for finally coming to my senses"

"Well, not really, I've always kinda wanted to do that."

Vincent Valentine had seen many things in his lifetime. Many of which haunted him. He'd also seen things that he had wished to hold onto forever. The first woman he ever truly loved, for the longest time he'd wished to have nothing more than to have her bright brown eyes gazing up at him in love.

Now, many years since that time had come and gone, he found himself sitting on a kitchen chair in the Old ShinRa mansion. In his arms laid a sleeping baby girl. Her ever growing ebony hair laid on his arm as his metal claw rubbed the tiny treasures's hand with tenderness Vincent didn't know a monster like himself possessed.

This was the reason he hadn't gone back into this coffin, this little girl, his daughter. This was where he was supposed to be, he'd reliezed. Here, with Yuffie and his infant daughter. This was where he was always meant to be.

Slowly tiny eyes opened to reveal bright crimson eyes.

_S.S ._

_Thanks for reading! Please review!! I'll give you a cookie _


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